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WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14SS0 

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la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

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cas:  le  symbole  -^  signifid  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
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de  I'angle  sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m6thode. 


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■■i*  j:\5flts(;r  ^-r^k  i^'^^iHSjf»^]^ife*^.^t*^^iif^sBB(^[^'i^^ 


DUTY  TO  THE  CHURCH. 


AN    ADDRESS 


To  THOSE  PERSONS  RESIDISa  IS  BROOKLYN  AND  ITS  VICINITV,  WHO  HAVB  HERETOFOR  B 
BELONGED  TO  THE  CHCRCH  IN  ANY  PART  OF  THE  BRITISH  DoJIINIONS. 


N 


DY 


EVAN    M.    JOHNSON, 


Rector  of  St.  Michael's  Church, 


BROOKLYN,   L.   i. 


BROOKLYN: 

I.  VAN  ANDEX'S  STEAM  PUESSES,  30    FULTON'  STREET. 

1855. 


I 


DUTY    TO   THE  CHURCH. 


This  city  having  been  and  at  present  being  the* 
residence  of  many  of  you  for  whom  this  address  is 
intended ;  and  having  for  the  last  thirty  years 
discharged  (however  imperfectly)  the  duties  of 
Rector  of  St.  John's  and  St.  Michael's  Churches  ;  I 
have  had  a  great  opportunity  to  observe  the  varied 
effect  which  a  change  of  country  and  residence 
produces  upon  tlie  religious  character  and  habits. 
Called  upon  as  I  am,  and  have  been  most  frequently^ 
to  visit  the  sick  and  afflicted,  and  to  perform  the 
last  rites  of  the  Church,  I  can  but  become  familiar 
with  the  state  of  religion  as  it  exists  among  every 
class  of  people.  In  very  many  cases  it  has  been 
my  happiness  to  become  acquainted  with  both 
families  and  individuals,  now  resident  here,  who 
have  uniformly  and  constantly  attended  upon  "  the 
word  and  ministry "  of  the  Church ;  who  have 
continued  in  the  same  regular  habits  of  worship 
which  they  practised  "  at  home,"  and  who  have 


thus  remained  in  "the  Apostles'  fellowship  and 
doctrine,"  and  have  "  grown  in  grace,  and  increased 
in  knowledge  and  in  virtue." 

It  grieves  me,  however,  to  say,  and  I  trust  I  shall 
not  be  considered  less  your  friend  for  saying  so,  that 
I  am  compelled  to  believe  a  change  of  country  has, 
on  the  whole,  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  religious 
character  and  frequently  the  moral  habits.  How 
frequently  has  it  been  said  to  me  by  the  sick  or 
dying  penitent,  "  Oh !  how  have  I  neglected  my 
God  and  Saviour !  how  have  I  neglected  the  Church 
and  her  ordinances  !  "When  "  at  home,"  I  never  was 
absent  from  Church  ;  since  I  have  been  here,  I  have 
never  attended  at  all."  This  is  not  the  language  of 
a  solitary  individual ;  it  is  language  that  is  repeated 
time  and  again.  When  I  have  been  called  to 
perform  the  occasional  offices  of  the  Church,  such  as 
funerals,  or  marriages,  or  baptism  of  children,  I 
have  found  persons  who  it  was  evident  had  been 
educated  in  the  Church  and  accustomed  to  its 
services,  by  the  manner  in  which  they  joined  in  its 
responsive  parts.  Of  such,  I  haye  frequently  made 
the  inquiry  where  they  attended  Church?  In  a 
vast  many  instances,  I  have  been  answered,  "  Since 
I  have  Ijeen  in  this  country^  I  have  never  attended 
church  at  all — 'at  home,'  I  never  was  absent." 

I  think,  my  friends,  +liat  those  of  you  who  have 
not  neglected  your  duty  in  the  particular  above 


5 


I 


referred  to  in  this  address,  must  have  been  convinced 
from  your  own  observation,  tliat  it  is  true  of  great 
numbers,  and  especially,  of  younger  persons,  and 
those  who  are  employed  among  the  commercial  and 
laborious  classes,  there  is  great  inattention  to  the 
Church  and  me.ans  of  grace.  I  know  you  will  not 
impute  to  me  any  other  motives  in  making  this 
declaration,  than  the  desire  to  promote  your  own 
temporal  and  eternal  good,  if  in  this  address  I 
attempt  to  lay  before  you,  as  the  result  of  my  own 
reflections  and  observation,  some  of  the  rauses  to 
which  this  declension  may  bo  imputed,  and  to 
suggest  some  remedies^  which,  if  adopted,  would  go 
far  to  obviate  this  acknowledged  evil. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  breaking  up  of 
family,  and  domestic  and  social  relations,  almost 
universally  eifected  by  a  change  of  country,  is 
attended  with  injurious  effects.  You  liave  left  your 
family  circle,  your  father's  house,  your  mother's 
care,  your  brethren  and  kindred  with  whom  yo'. 
took  sweet  counsel,  your  parish  Church,  your  pastor, 
who  perhaps  admitted  you  by  baptism  into  the  fold 
of  Christ,  and  by  whom  you  have  been  taught  the 
rudiments  of  religion.  You  are  comparatively 
amonjr  strangers — those  restraints  which  at  home 
kept  you  from  irregularity,  if  not  vice,  are  no  longer 
binding.  Some  of  you  may  have  fallen  into  the 
society  of  the  dishonest,  the  prodigal,  the  abandoned ; 
if  not,  you  perhaps  found  your  first  acquaintances 


much  like  yourselves,  loosed  from  the  restraints  of 
their  family  and  parochial  circle.  It  would  be 
marvellous,  if  \mder  all  such  untoward  circum- 
stances, you  had  retained  all  your  regular  habits 
and  devout  practices. 

I  think  it  is  for  want  of  information  and  proper 
consideration,  that  many  fall  off  from  their  religious 
character.  "  At  home,"  most  of  you  belonged  to 
the  Church  established  in  the  British  Empire. 
(Observe,  I  do  not  say  to  the  Established  Church  of^ 
but  hi  the  British  Empire.  I  do  not  wish  to  call 
you  to  remember  the  Church  which  you  left, 
especially  in  England  and  Ireland,  as  connected 
with  the  State,  and  as  identified,  perhaps  to  the 
personal  knowledge  of  many  of  you,  with  many 
vexatious  and  troublesome  questions  and  disputes 
arising  out  of  that  connexion ;  but  the  Church  as  it 
was  first  established  in  Great  Britain  by  the  laboi^s 
of  St.  Paul,  or  of  the  Bishops  in  the  Apostolical  age, 
which  was  afterwards  re-established  and  incor- 
porated with  the  former,  especially  in  England,  by 
St.  Austin,  and  which,  at  a  later  period,  in  the  full 
exercise  of  its  legitimate  powers,  arose  in  its  might 
and  rejected  the  many' additions  of  man's  device 
which  had  been  made  both  to  her  doctrines  and 
worship  by  the  usurped  authority  of  the  Bishops  of 
Rome.  It  is  to  the  Church  established  in  this  sense, 
the  Church  to  which  your  fathers  from  time  imme- 


morial  have  belonged — the  old  Church — older  than 
either  the  liomau  or  the  modern  sects — the  Church 
in  which  your  parents  with  pious  care  caused  you 
to  be  admitted  at  your  baptism,  in  whose  sublime 
strains  they  now,  with  your  relatives  and  friends, 
offer  up  their  daily  and  weekly  sacrifice  of*  i)raise 
and  worship.  It  is  to  the  claims  of*  this  your  parent 
Church,  upon  you  as  her  children,  that  I  ask  your 
attention. 

The  history  of  the  earlier  measures  adopted  by 
the  Church  in  England  to  plant  a  branch  of  her  own 
vino  in  these  then  colonies  in  America,  is  exceed- 
ingly interesting ;  but  it  is  principally  to  the  fact 
that  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England,  after  the 
separation  of  these  states  from  the  mother  country, 
consecrated  Bishops  and  committed  to  their  charge 
the  congregations  and  individual  Christians,  who 
had  before  been  spiritually  subjected  to  them,  that 
I  wish  to  call  your  attention.*  This  was  done 
with  all  due  regularity,  and  by  this  means  the 
Bishops  and  Clergy  of  the  Church  in  America 
are  the  successors  of  the  Bir^hops  in  Great  Britain, 
and  all  are  in  a  direct  line  of  succession  from  St. 
Austin,  if  not,  as  is  possible,  from  the  Bishops  of 
England  in  the  first  century.    The  fact  that  the 


*  A  most  invnlnablc  History  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churcli  in  America^ 
was  published  by  Bishop  Wilberforce  of  Oxford,  England,  a  few  years  ago,  and 
was  re-pu1?lished  by  Sword  &  Stanford,  New  York,  where  it  may  be  had.  It  ought 
to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  individual  who  desires  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the 
connexion  of  the  Church  in  America  with  that  in  England,  and  is  indispensible  ta 
every  Sunday  School  Library. 


s 


spiritual  clmrgo  over  the  Church  in  the  United 
States  was  thus  transferred,  shows  that  as  to 
spiritual  matters  they  are  l)ut  one  Church.  The 
same  submission,  therefore,  is  due  to  the  spiritual 
authority  of  the  Chief  Pastors  from  indiviihuils 
belonging  to  either  Church,  resident  in  the  country 
of  tlio  other,  whether  they  bo  natives  of  Great 
Britain  residing  in  the  United  States,  or  whether  of 
tlie  rnited  States  residing  in  Great  Britain.  At 
about  the  same  time  that  this  regular  Apostolical 
succession  was  obtained,  the  Liturgy  of  tlie  Cliurch 
was  adopted  to  the  form  of  government  established 
liere,  and  some  otlier  alterations  were  nuide,  not 
affecting  tlie  mode  or  order  of  public  worship.  The 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  the  Book  of  Homilies, 
were  received  as  containing  Scriptural  doctrines  and 
prescribing  Christian  duties. 

Thus  the  Cliurch  in  this  country  is  one  with  the 
Church  to  which  you  belonged  before  you  came 
hero  as  to  discipline,  doctrine  and  jn-actice.  She  has 
the  same  claim  to  your  regard,  to  your  obedience 
and  to  your  submission,  that  the  Church  in  England 
had.  To  separate  from  this  one  Cliurch  was  schism 
there,  is  schism  here.  In  the  days  of  the  Apostles 
it  was  said  to  members  of  the  Church,  "  Let  there 
be  no  schism  in  the  body  of  Christ,"  and  they  were 
to  "  mark  them  that  caused  divisions,  (schisms.)  " 
It  is,  however,  now  scarcely  ever  really  considered 
that  schism  is  a  sin,  and  that  it  is  forbidden  by  the 


0 


word  of  God.  Almost  every  one  thinks  he  has  a 
right  to  withdraw  from  the  Church  and  join  any 
chiss  of  schismatics  lie  may  choose.  But,  my 
Kiiends,  it  is  schismatical,  and  tlierefore  sinful  to  do 
so.  I  am  persuaded  that  of  those  who  forsake  the 
communion  of  the  Church,  the  greater  part  do  so 
more  from  want  of  information  and  consideration, 
than  from  any  design  to  despise  this  Apostolical 
precept.* 

It  is  for  want  of  information,  or  at  least  con- 
sideration of  these  facts,  that  many  of  you  think  that 
here  one  Church  is  called  a  secty  in  the  same  sense 
as  another,  because  no  one  is  established  by  law. 
On  your  first  arrival  here,  you  did  not  ask  for  the 
CI  lurch — the  Church  of  your  fathers  ;  you  delayed 
to  do  your  duty  and  transfer  your  spiritual  allegi- 
ance. Thus  an  inroad  was  made  upon  your 
religious  habits,  and  in  too  many  instances  you 
have  never  returned  to  them.  What  wonder,  then, 
that  those  who  have  neglected  the  ordinances  of  the 
Church ;  "  despised  the  hol}^  Sabbaths,"  and  in 
some  instances  have  even  disused  the  reception  of 


♦Schism. — John  Wesley  advises  the  members  of  the  Church  to  "  bewnrc  of 
schism,  of  malving  a  rent  in  the  Church  of  Christ,"  what  he  means  by  the  Church 
of  Christ,  plainly  appears  from  a  letter  of  his  (vol.  X,  pape  2:52).  "  I  would  take 
some  pains  to  recover  any  one  from  error  or  to  reconcile  him  to  our  Church.  I 
mean  to  tlie  Church  of  England  ;  from  which  I  do  not  separate,  and  I  (probably) 
never  shall.  The  little  Church,  which  I  occasionally  mentioned  at  Holy  Mount, 
is  that  wherein  7  ;'«u/ ^>/*ai/er«,  I  preach,  I  administer  the  merament  etery 
Sunday  when  T  am  in  London."  "  To  separate  ourselves  from  a  body  of  living- 
Christians  with  whom  we  were  before  imited,  is  a  grUvous  breach  of  the  law  of 
love,'"    Vol.  HI,  page  3S4. 


10 


the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  altar,  upon  which  they  once 
feasted ;  what  wonder  if  such  as  these  (and  alas ! 
they  are  too  many,)  are  in  a  state  of  spiritual  death 
— "dead  while  they  live."  What  wonder,  that 
when  temporal  death  stares  them  in  the  face,  and 
they  know  they  are  about  to  go  into  the  presence  of 
an  oifended  God,  that  the  recollection  of  their 
neglect  of  Him  and  their  duty,  should  add  a  bitter 
pang  to  the  accusations  of  a  guilty  conscience  ! 
Such  is  the  fact.  It  is,  my  friends,  to  save  you,  into 
whose  hands  this  address  may  fall,  and  who  know 
that  your  case  has  been  here  described,  from  the 
stings  of  such  a  conscience  at  such  an  hour,  as  well 
as  from  the  eternal  displeasure  of  oifended  Majesty, 
that  I  entreat  you  now,  to  "  thiidv  of  these  things." 

1  know  that  in  many  instances,  direct  means  are 
used  to  effect  your  estrangement  from  the  Church. 
1  will  mention  a  few  of  them : — Your  prejudices 
against  some  of  the  abuses  which  have  grown  up  in 
England  (and  which  many  there  lament,)  in  conse- 
(pience  of  the  connexion  of  Church  and  State,  are 
aj^pealed  to.  You  are  asked,  will  you  here  continue 
to  be  attached  to  a  Church,  which  "  at  home " 
compels  every  one  to  contribute  to  its  support ; 
which  upholds  so  many  lordly  Bishops,  and  rich  and 
indolent  clergy  ?  This  kind  of  talk  is  most  common  ; 
and  by  such  appeals  to  prejudice,  the  attempt  is 
often    successfully    made    to    induce    our    weaker 


do 


11 


?y 


brethren  to  stray  from  the  rightful  fold.  But  what 
have  these  abuses  which  have  crept  into  the 
Established  Church  of  England,  to  do  with  her  as  a 
member  of  Christ's  body.  These  abuses  do  not 
change  the  character  of  the  truths  which  she  teaches, 
or  the  validity  of  the  sacraments  whicli  her  ministers 
dispense.  They  do  not  exist  in  the  Church  herc^  if 
they  do  there.  If  you  have  experienced  any  evils 
on  account  of  the  connexion  of  the  Church  and 
State,  you  ought  to  be  thankful  that  here  they 
cannot  again  occur. 

You  are  told  that  you  cannot  go  to  church  here 
unless  you  hire  a  pew,  and  that  you  and  your 
families  would  not  be  accommodated  if  vou  were  to 
make  the  attempt.  I  am  aware  that  a  difference  of 
practice  in  regard  to  the  manner  of  supporting  the 
Clergy  prevails  here,  from  that  which  exists  ''at 
home."  There,  the  Cleri]cv  and  Church  beiui»- 
supported  by  Government,  it  is,  or  ought  to  be  so, 
that  every  one  has  a  seat  in  Church.  But  that  seat 
is  not  without  charge,  only  it  is  ptdd  for  by  tax, 
collected  by  the  officers  of  state.  Here  you  are 
entirely  exempt  from  this  as  a  tax  ;  you  pay  for  the 
support  for  the  Gospel  Ministry,  either  what  you 
voluntarily  agree  to  do,  or,  what  you  are  charged  as 
a  rent  for  your  seat.  Though  from  necessity,  the 
support  for  the  Minister  is  thus  ordinarily  obtained, 
there  are  few  churches  in  which  sittings  cannot  l)e 
gratuitous!}"  obtained  by  application  at  the  door.  I 
do  not  believe  an  instance  can  be  pointed  out,  where 


a  person  or  a  family  has  been  compelled  to  leave 
the  communion,  and  absent  themselves  from  the 
services  of  the  Church,  for  want  of  seats,  if  they 
have  made  any  exertion  to  obtain  one ;  but  I  do 
know  that  many  have  done  so  because  they  ivere 
told  that  the  effort  would  be  fruitless.* 

Another  very  common  and  very  effectual  method 
used  to  draw  you  away  from  your  Church,  will  be 
found  in  the  unceasing  efforts  of  sectarian  Sabhath 
School  visitoi*s,  to  induce  yon  to  place  your  child- 
ren under  their  charge.  They  tell  you  that  the 
Sabbath  School  cause  is  a  good  one — that  the 
children  are  only  taught  what  is  good — there  is  no 
sectarianism — it  is  perhaps  a  "  Union  School ;''  you 
are  pleased  with  this  show  of  kindness  and  attention, 
and  you  consent,  without  thinking  of  the  conse- 
quences, to  send  your  children.  In  this  school  they 
are  introduced  to  a  method  of  worship  new  to  them 
— they  hear  many  crude  and  heretical  doctrines — 
they  are  taken  to  the  meeting  house  or  chapel,  an<l 
soon  forget  the  Church  at  whose  altar  you  yourself 
dedicated  them  to  the  Lord,  and  where  you  promised 
that  they  should  be  instructed  in  the  catechism,  and 
order  and  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  "  brought 
to  the  Bishop  to  be  confirmed  by  him."  By  and  by, 
you  accompany  your  children  on  the  Lord's  day. 


*  In  St.  Michael's  Church,  of  which  the  author  is  Rector,  there  are  no  pewi  aiul 
the  seats  are  free.  The  churcli  is  supported  by  the  weekly  and  quarterly  collec- 
tions and  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  attendants. 


brl 
he 

kill 
ill 


13 


leave 
n  the 

they 

I  do 

locre 

lethod 
ill  he 
Math 
child- 
at  the 
Lt  the 
i  is  no 

;"  you 

antioi), 
conse- 
)1  they 
0  thein 
rines — 
el,  and 
ourself 
omised 
iin,  and 
)rought 
and  by, 
I's  day, 


10  pewi  and 
terly  coUec- 


and  after  a  little  time  you  find  yourself,  without 
ever  intendino^  to  be  so,  indeed  dissenters  from  your 
Cluircli,  and  violating  your  most  express  and 
covenant  engagements.  I  am  sure  this  is  the  case 
of  many  families,  resident  at  present  in  this  city.* 

Others  of  you  have  been  drawn  away  from  the 
Church,  by  the  enticements  held  out  to  go  and  hear 
some  roving,  popular,  sectarian,  revival  preacher. 
It  is  said  it  can  do  no  harm  to  go  and  hear.  If  you 
refuse,  you  are  said  to  be  bigoted.  You  have 
accpiiesced.  Perhaps  you  have  become  temporarily 
excited — carried  away  for  the  time  by  some  new 
doctrine  or  new  device,  and  in  an  unguarded 
moment  liave  lianded  in  your  name  as  a  candidate 
for  admission  into  this  sectarian  society.  Some  of 
you  may  have  done  this  without  thinking  how  you 
have,  by  so  doing,  trampled  under  foot  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  cut  yourselves  off  from  that  holy 
fellowship  into  which,  at  your  baptism  you  were 
introduced.  Bv  heeding  such  lil^e  schemes  and 
advice  many  of  you  have  been  drawn  away  from  the 
Church,  and  for  a  while  have  been  induced  to  "walk 
with  dissent.''  After  a  while  the  novelty  of  this 
wears  away  ;  you  have  forgotten  your  Mother ;  your 
early  habits  have  been  broken  up,  you  have 
adopted  nothing  substantial,  and  fall  away  into  the 


*  I  have  been  told  that  in  order  to  deter  persona  ignorant  of  our  customs  from 
l)ringing  tlieir  cliildrcn  to  Holy  Baptism,  as  they  were  wont  to  do  "  at  home,"  they 
liave  been  told,  that  the  fee  for  Baptism  was  exliorbitantly  high.  I  have  never 
known  a  charge  of  any  kind  made  or  demanded  by  any  clergyman  of  the  Church 
in  this  country. 


14 

hands  of  the  destroyer.  ''  I  speak  what  I  do  know, 
and  testify  what  T  liave  seen/' — (John  iii.  2.)  These 
are  some  of  the  canoes  of  the  spiritnal  and  religions 
declension  which  we  so  mnch  lament  to  see 
prevalent. 

Will  yon  permit  me  to  offer  a  few  considerations, 
with  a  kind  regard  for  yonr  own  eternal  interests,  as 
to  the  remedy  of  these  acknowledged  evils.  Let 
every  one  of  yon,  whether  yon  be  single  or  the  head 
of  a  family,  if  yon  have  heretofore,  since  yon  have 
been  in  this  conntry,  neglected  the  dnties  of  religion, 
at  once  inqnire  for  the  ''  old  Chnrch ;''  inqnire  for 
some  clei'gyman  to  whom  is  committed  the  cnre  ol 
sonls ;  make  known  to  him  y<»nr  whole  case, 
whether  it  bo  that  of  a  backslider  or  a  despiser  of  the 
Chnrch  ;  ask  the  privilege  to  become  one  of  his  flock 
and  leave  yonr  name  with  him.  Let  it  be  yonr 
bnsiness  at  once,  to  commence  attendance  on  the 
Pnblic  Prayers  and  service  of  the  Chnrch.  Go  to 
yonr  regnlar  Chnrch,  and,  with  your  fiimily,  (if  yon 
have  one,)  be  known  to  yonr  clergyman  and  to 
society,  as  a  consistent  churchman.  If  you  have 
children,  take  them  to  a  Sunday  School,  where  the 
catechism  of  the  Church,  and  the  forms  of  the 
Church,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Cliurch,  are  taught, 
and  where  no  strange  practices  are  in  use,  or  noi^ 
doctrines  taufj^ht,  and  thus  redeem  your  "  vows  unto 
the  Lord.''  Li  this  way,  you  will  continue  your 
connexion  with  a  legitimate  ministry,  of  Apostolical 
snccession ;  you  will   i>'0  wlu^'e   the   true  Christian 


15 


sec 


sacrifice  is  oft'erecl,  and  the  sacraments  duly  and 
lawfully  administered.  Permit  not  yourselves  to  be 
drawn  aside  by  the  persuasions  of  those  who  would 
strive  to  make  you  believe  that  ''  one  church  is  as 
good  as  another ;"  of  those  who  cry  "  Lo  !  he  is 
here,  and  lo  !  he  is  there  ;  go  not  after  them."  Wait 
you  upon  God  in  his  holy  Church,  to  which  he  hath 
promised  his  blessing,  and  in  the  use  of  whose 
sacred  rites  and  holy  sacraments,  you  will  assuredly 
find  given  to  you  his  strengthening  spirit.  The 
holy  spirit  is  the  animating  principle  of  the  Church, 
the  l)ody  of  Christ.  Whatever  others  may  desire 
to  be,  or  whatever  tliey  may  represent  themselves  to 
be,  they  <lo  not  belong  to  that  Church  from  which 
they  have  separated,  and  to  wdiich  belong  the 
promises.  How  can  you  expect  the  blessed  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  shed  abroad  in  your 
hearts,  when  you  repudiate  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
which  you  have  been  baptised,  or  confirmed  or 
received  the  Idessed  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  as  the  case  may  ))e,  because  some  poor 
deluded  schismatic  has  told  you  he  has  found  out  a 
better  way,  and  you  have  been  weak  enough  to  be 
lead  from  your  steadfastness.  I  entreat  you,  most 
affect! onatelv,  mv  friends,  who  have  been  drawn 
away  from  your  Church  cither  by.  the  enticements 
of  the  world,  tlie  flesh,  or  the  devil,  to  stop  and 
thiidv  of  the  account  you  must  give  in  the  great  day, 
for  '•  doing  despite  to  the  spirit  of  grace,"  or  living 
without  God  in  the  world.  The  day  most  assuredly 
will  come  wlien  vou  must  account  to  God  for  all  the 


16 


*'  deeds  done  in  the  body,"  for  all  your  violations  of 
the  positive  commands  of  Christ  and  for  your  rejec- 
tion of  those  great  privileges  which  were  vouchsafed 
to  you  at  your  baj^tism,  and  which  you  forfeit  when 
vou  leave  the  communion  of  the  Church,  throiiffh 
whose  ministry  they  were  pledged  and  conveyed  to 
you.  My  friends,  you  have  an  especial  duty  to 
perform  to  those  who  come  here  from  time  to  time 
from  your  mother  country ;  take  them  by  the  hand, 
lead  them  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers,  caution 
them  against  neglect  of  religious  duty,  to  beware 
of  "  seducing  spirits,"  and  let  such  see,  by  your 
example  and  practice,  that  you  are  in  ^'  the  ohi 
paths/'  Look  especially  after  youth  and  engage 
them  at  once  in  the  service  of  God,  before  habits 
of  spiritual  indolence  are  formed.  Eemember 
that  Christ  established  his  Church,  and  has  con- 
tinued it  in  the  world,  for  the  '•'  perfecting  of 
the  saints,''  and  that  by  the  means  offered  you, 
through  the  Holy  Ghost  shed  abroad  in  it,  you  may 
secure  the  eternal  salvation  of  your  souls;  out  of  it, 
you  have  no  promise  of  aid.  We  pray  you,  then,  as 
God  hath  appointed,  In  llh  C/mrch^  seek  for  the 
graces  of  penitence  and  obedience,  and  strive  to 
discharge  every  ''  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love," 
and  you  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls. 

EVAN  M.  JOHNSON. 

Rector  of  St.  MichaeVs  Churrh,  Brooklyn. 
Emter  Monday,  A,  />.,  1855. 


